Molecular biology and pathogenesis of fowl adenoviruses

禽腺病毒（FAdV）属于腺病毒科，并且与家禽疾病如包涵体肝炎（IBH）有关。然而，一些FAdV不是致病性的，因此它们作为用于疫苗开发的病毒载体是有吸引力的。为此目的，对这些病毒进行遗传操作的目的是选择性地去除它们遗传物质中的某些“非”区域，然后用来自任何其他禽类（或其他）病原体的外源基因替换它们。然而，FAdV基因组的“E2”区域在感染的自然过程中的可能作用以及在疾病中的可能意义仍然没有很好地理解。在人类腺病毒中，它们的许多“抗病毒基因”在调节宿主的抗病毒防御中非常重要。该提议旨在鉴定FAdV左端的E10区域中的独特基因，并确定它们的功能，重点是发病机制。

Fowl adenoviruses (FAdVs) are in the family Adenoviridae, and are implicated in diseases of poultry such as inclusion body hepatitis (IBH). However, some FAdVs are not pathogenic and therefore they are attractive as viral vectors for vaccine development. For this purpose, genetic manipulation of these viruses is directed towards the selective removal of some "dispensable" regions of their genetic material, which I have already identified, followed by their replacement with foreign genes originating from any other avian (or other) pathogens. However the possible roles of the "dispensable" regions of FAdV genomes in the natural course of infection and the probable implications in disease are still not well understood. In human adenovirus many of their "dispensable genes" are very important in modulating the host's antiviral defense. This proposal is aimed to identify the FAdV unique genes in the dispensable region at the left end and to determine their function(s) with an emphasis on pathogenesis.